42056: Porsche 911 GT3 RS review part 5

Box Four and the final stage of the 911 GT3 RS build. Another symmetrical build here as you would obviously expect, but this stage makes you feel as if you are actually building a car with all the separate body panels. And that feeling makes this an enjoyable experience as opposed to a mundane one. The body panels finally take shape and thus create the form of the car.

First off the dash is added and closes off the interior as a completed part. As part of my RHD thinking, I can see how quickly and effortlessly this could be converted the other way around, so this is good news (for me anyway). As is the body colour, there is a sea of orange to deal with but no matter – if you wanted to MOC this model into a different colour, just look at the orange parts and substitute – if they are available via the LEGO inventory.

You progress through one side of the car and eventually go around and complete the other. It all fits into place. The door hinges are a clever bit of design. I love the rear wing – it gives you the flexibility to pose it in a number of positions to ensure that downforce is duly generated. The bonnet opens delightfully to reveal the engine bay – it is lovely stuff. As with Box Three, the front wings with screen printed decals are unique – I doubt one will find any other use for them within another build, but soft – they serve a purpose.

Details is not missed out – the petrol cap and tank are given a token nod to on the right side and the front end has a menace about it provided in part by the 1×4 toothed tile and the big clear dishes that depict the headlights. More curves are created through the orange piping held in place with various connectors. These do a job, but there are gaping spaces in parts which I would have liked to have seen closed up. You finally have the option of creating the Porsche holdall which fits in the boot, but this is a more novelty item, a bit like the picnic hamper for the Mini Cooper Creator set.

Once Box Four is completed, the rims and tyres can be added and voila, c’est fini. Don’t forget to add the printed 1×1 discs with the RS logo to the rims – this could easily be overlooked. All in all, I reckon I must have spent a good few hours on this build – and unless you have nowt else to do, it will really take over 5 hours to complete. But you shouldn’t rush this build – by taking it slowly, especially with Box One, you will get the most out of the creativity of the build as well as an insight into how a supercar is put together.

So having completed the build and being a petrolhead , one may make the assumption that “everything is awesome” with this model. And you would be right, in the majority of parts, it is. However – there are flaws:

• The three peg wheel rotor may not have been the best choice. At the rear of the car, there is far too much give and play for my liking and at times you could make it look like the car has 4WS a la Honda Prelude.
• despite the hinge strengthening, the doors are quite flimsy and look like they could tear off at any moment whilst opening them. Indeed it did come off in my hands as it was just too weak.
• the steering column reach is pointless – does not work as intended and adds zero value to the model.
• why did LEGO not include instructions for a RHD model? OK, this is my challenge over the next few months to re-engineer this car to RHD, but to the uninitiated Technic builders, the prospect may lead to squeaky bum time.
• the wee holdall is dinky but irrelevant – I didn’t even bother building it as it serves zero purpose.
• Once I had completed the mode, there was a sense of relief and pleasure that it was finally done. But upon the first roll of the car on a flat surface, I heard the famous LEGO gear clicking which meant that something was not right. Upon closer inspection, the linkage between the differential and the engine was preventing the flat six from turning over. So this does mean a take part and check to see where the problem is – not an easy task and quite involved as well as time consuming, a commodity of which I have precious little these days.
• 1/8 scale – where on earth do you display this?? My Detolf IKEA cabinets will not take it, so unless you have a clearly defined and dedicated space for show you may find yourself with a bit of a headache on what to do with the completed build.
• Once built, do you actually take it apart?
• Stickers – both front wings and the wheel caps (1×1 discs) have been screen printed, so why couldn’t the other elements that needed this touch?
• The front of the car seems weighty which in turn does not allow the car to have a proper stance. It just sits a little too low for my liking. Also there is no real feedback from the front dampers as opposed to the rear ones which gives the impression that it feels broken.

 

Conclusion

The 911 GT3 RS surpasses its predecessors the U400 Unimog and AROCS 3245 in terms of scale, presentation and depth of build. The moment you open the box, you know you have a very special set. The manual is immense – worthy. The rims are stunning, the build in Box One very satisfying, the nods to detail: punkt.

But as much as this wants to be the perfect LEGO flagship model, it misses this accolade mainly because of the points I have highlighted within this part of the review. These are my grips, valid ones as I believe. I have seen on social media folk get three of these in one purchase via the LEGO store in person, and then some clown on ebay selling it for double the RRP (if you are stupid enough to pay over the odds for this set, you have got rocks in your noggin).  The set works out to be 9.2p per piece, which is just about OK as I assume that the production costs of the packaging and presentation have also a input into the RRP.

Do you need to buy this one? $64,000 Question.

It could be said that the same question was asked about the GBHQ. I felt compelled to get it and social media screamed that it was a ‘must have’. At £275 it was also a decent wedge as well. Thankfully I resisted as I could have got 8-10 City sets for the same amount of money. It wasn’t and essential buy, more of a nice to have. And TBH, so is the 911 GT3 RS. If you are a LEGO nut , then you will find yourself heading over tinternet or the LEGO store and picking one up, probably along with Big Ben and anything else you can get your hands on. Technic fans will most probably get one. I am a car fan, so of course it would be on my shopping list at some point. But what for the normal AFOL?

Look what is coming up in the second half of 2016 – Big Ben Creator set as well as the VW Kafer/Beetle to a couple and if you are a theme collector, then there is a wealth of models that are being released as well. Opportunity Cost comes into play here and one will have to think very hard if it worth dropping £250 on a set which may well not be a a ‘must have’ but more a ‘nice to have’.

Personally, the model gives me a good deal of enjoyment in building it, despite the annoyances that have arisen – more importantly it gives me the RHD challenge which will keep me occupied. But I would have to wait for the double VIP points promo to make this set really worth my while. Incidentally, for the price of two of these sets, you could by a 1999 (T Reg) Mercedes 2.3 CLK with 100k on the clock. Makes you think doesn’t it?

 

This set can be picked up from shop@Home, but be prepared to wait as the set is getting sold out as soon as it appears

Disclaimer: All our reviews are our own personal views, special thanks to the LEGO CEE Team for providing me with this set to review.